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This was a sermon that was given on January 1, 2017 to remind us that God is in control.
Written Excerpts:
Romans 8:31 What shall we
then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?
Introduction:
As
we stand on the threshold of a brand new year, each one of us has a choice to
face the year with faith or with fear.
Story of Fear (Illustrations Unlimited.) When you fear
that the worst will happen, your own thoughts may help to bring it about.
Someone once wrote, "Fear is the wrong use of imagination. It is
anticipating the worst, not the best that can happen."
A salesman,
driving on a lonely country road one dark and rainy night, had a flat. He
opened the trunk—no lug wrench. The light from a farmhouse could be seen dimly
up the road. He set out on foot through the driving rain. Surely the farmer
would have a lug wrench he could borrow, he thought.
Of course, it
was late at night—the farmer would be asleep in his warm, dry bed. Maybe he
wouldn't answer the door. And even if he did, he'd be angry at being awakened
in the middle of the night.
The salesman,
picking his way blindly in the dark, stumbled on. By now his shoes and clothing
were soaked. Even if the farmer did answer his knock, he would probably shout
something like, "What's the big idea waking me up at this hour?" This
thought made the salesman angry. What right did that farmer have to refuse him
the loan of a lug wrench? After all, here he was stranded in the middle of
nowhere, soaked to the skin. The farmer was a selfish clod—no doubt about that!
The salesman
finally reached the house and banged loudly on the door. A light went on
inside, and a window opened above. A voice called out, "Who is it?"
His face white with anger, the salesman called out, "You know darn well
who it is. It's me! And you can keep your blasted lug wrench. I wouldn't borrow
it now if you had the last one on earth!"
For
a little while today I would like to explore some of the lessons that are
expressed or implied in the passage I’ve read from Rom. 8:31. The last 9 verses of Romans 8 are all about God
seeing to it that every believer is ultimately victorious.
Paul begins this section with a “loaded question.” “What
shall we say to these things?” – What is the final conclusion? What does this all
mean?
“these things” – probably a reference back to vv.
29-30; the “links” in the chain of redemption.
He then begins to provide the answer to that
question by a series of “rhetorical questions.” (Remember, a rhetorical question is one that has a
blatantly obvious answer.) Even though the answer to each rhetorical question
is already assumed, Paul goes ahead and follows each one up with an answer that
is more thorough.
There
are a few questions I would like to ask in order to discover the full impact of
this question raised by the Apostle.
Those questions would be:
1.
Who is God?
2.
Is He for us?
3.
Who is against us?
I.
WHO IS THIS GOD THAT PAUL SPEAKS OF?
A.
He is the Creator and Sustainer of the universe.
Isaiah 40:12-17; 21-26 (NKJV) 12 Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, Measured heaven
with a span And calculated the dust of the earth in a measure? Weighed the
mountains in scales And the hills in a balance? 13 Who has directed
the Spirit of the LORD, Or as
His counselor has taught Him? 14 With whom did He take counsel, and who instructed Him, And taught Him in
the path of justice? Who taught Him knowledge, And showed Him the way of
understanding? 15 Behold, the nations are as a drop in a bucket, And are counted as the small dust on
the scales; Look, He lifts up the isles as a very little thing. 16 And
Lebanon is not sufficient to
burn, Nor its beasts sufficient for a burnt offering. 17 All nations
before Him are as nothing, And
they are counted by Him less than nothing and worthless. 21 Have you
not known? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning?
Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? 22 It is He who sits above the circle of
the earth, And its inhabitants are
like grasshoppers, Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, And spreads
them out like a tent to dwell in. 23 He brings the princes to
nothing; He makes the judges of the earth useless. 24 Scarcely shall
they be planted, Scarcely shall they be sown, Scarcely shall their stock take
root in the earth, When He will also blow on them, And they will wither, And
the whirlwind will take them away like stubble. 25 “To whom then
will you liken Me, Or to whom
shall I be equal?" says the Holy One. 26 Lift up your eyes on
high, And see who has created these things,
Who brings out their host by number; He calls them all by name, By the
greatness of His might And the strength of His power; Not one is missing.
This
is the God that Paul is talking about. What if He is for us? Who can possibly be against us?
B.
He is infinite in knowledge and strength and every other attribute.
II.
IS HE FOR US?
There
are a myriad of references in the entire Bible that would indicate God is for
us – not in the sense that He promises to give us everything we want, or follow
our every desire. But the Bible is clear about the fact that God is for us in
the sense that He loves us far more than we can comprehend and He has done
everything necessary so we can know
Him and follow Him.
The
real answer to this question is found in the very next verse (v. 32). He who did not
spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with
Him also freely give us all things?
– He will give us all things necessary because He already has!
The
fact that God is for us is proven by the sending of His own Son as a substitute
sacrifice for each of us.
III.
WHO IS AGAINST US?
It
is obvious that Satan is against us and the world is against us.
See:
1 Pet. 5:8 Be sober, be
vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about,
seeking whom he may devour:
John 15:19 If ye
were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the
world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.
These
two references alone ought to teach us that we cannot make a decision to trust
Christ and then expect to “coast” on in to heaven.
No,
we have an enemy that is out to destroy us and if we’re not diligently seeking
God’s will, His grace and His strength, we will be overcome before we know it.
However,
Paul’s question is not raising the issue of whether anyone is against us, but whether it will do them any good to be against us. “If God be for us, who can be against us?” – The
obvious answer is: it doesn’t matter, whoever it is, or whatever it is, they
will not defeat us. They cannot undo what God has done and they cannot destroy
the work that Christ has accomplished.
This
includes every kind of adversity. (See verses 35-37) Who
shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress,
or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril,
or sword? 36 As it is written: "For Your sake we are
killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter." 37
Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through
Him who loved us.
When
God is for us, then none of these things mentioned can defeat us or destroy us.
Conclusion:
Someone
has said, “If God be for us, everyone else might as well be too!”
That
is my conclusion as well.
Face
this year with confidence that God is faithful and He will get us safely
through by His infinite grace.
Let us sing the closing hymn, Day
by Day
